This article first appeared in The Edge Financial Daily, on June 28, 2016.

KUALA LUMPUR: High-5 Consolidated Bhd has confirmed it has closed down its operations, saying it is abiding by a court order requiring all occupiers to vacate the premises, from which the bread maker operates.

In a statement yesterday, High-5 said since the court order requires the group to vacate the premises by July 3, it has no alternative but to close down its operations.

The order was obtained by AmanahRaya Real Estate Investment Trust, being the property owner, through CIMB Islamic Trustee Bhd.

Over the weekend, the Chinese media reported that High-5 (fomerly known as Silver Bird Group Bhd) ceased its operations on June 23.

In response, High-5 denied that the employees were terminated immediately, saying they were given a one-month notice of termination of their employment, starting June 23. Hence, the termination date would be July 22, it said.

“To improve their opportunity to find alternative employment, we have dispensed with the requirement for most of the employees to report to work during their notice period. A half-month advance on their salary for the month of June has also been paid, as assurance to the employees of our earnestness to pay the remaining half month’s salary before Hari Raya,” it added. High-5 assured employees that it is making every effort to examine how the remaining employee salaries, benefits and allowances can be paid as soon as possible.

In February 2012, High-5, whose substantial shareholders include Berjaya Corp Bhd (16.7%), Lembaga Tabung Haji (5.84%) and Koperasi Permodalan Felda Malaysia Bhd (12.7%), dropped a bombshell when it announced the discovery of a RM112 million (which later turned out to be RM297 million) hole in its finances.

The board of directors, led by chairman Datuk Gan Khuan Poh, immediately suspended Silver Bird’s then-group managing director Datuk Jackson Tan, executive director Ching Siew Cheong, and general manager of accounts and finance Lai Poh Mei.

Subsequently, it filed a RM125 million civil suit against Tan, Ching and Lai in August 2012.

With its cash running low, the bread maker was forced to cut production, and downsize its distribution network. This caused a sharp drop in its market share to 8% to 10%, from as high as 18%, before it ran into trouble.

The company was then categorised a Practice Note 17 firm. Its securities were delisted from Bursa Malaysia in 2014, after it failed to mend its financials, with over RM37.23 million in losses for the nine months ended July 31, 2014.